Nut-lock



' UNITED STATES PATENT OFEICE..

oI-IAIILES vAN DUSEN, or NEW ALBANY, INDIANA, AsSIeNoE oE'oNE-IIALE I rro WILLIAM L. EnEYIroeLE, or LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY, y

NUT-LOCK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 292,601, dated January 29, 1884. Application flled June 30, 1883. (No model.)

To all whom, tv muy concern:

Be it known thL t I, CHARLES VAN DUsEN,

a citizen of the United States, residing at New Albany, in the county of Floyd and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Nut-Locks, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

rIhis invention is in the nature of improvements in devices for locking the nuts of bolts to said bolts, so as to obviate the danger ofthe running off ofthe nuts incident to usage-as, for. example, in railroad-rail joints, where the constant jarring of the ear-wheels upon the rails loosens the nuts and dismembers the j oint; but it will be obvious that my invention lis of general applicability.

My invention consists in a top nut-locking washer provided with a bolt-hole larger than the circumference of the b olt to which it is to be applied7 having` teeth or spurs to 'enter and break the threads of the bolt, and a lever member, also toothed or pointed to engage the bolt7 s threads, and adapted to be forcibly moved,

toward the bolt, to thereby embed the spurs and its own point in the bolt, and so berigidly applied to thebolt outside the nut, substantially as herein after particularly set forth and claimed. In the accompanying drawings, illustrating my' invention, in the several figures of which like parts are similarly designated,`Figure lis a perspective view of one form of my washer; Fig. 2, a cross-section thereof onthe line .r x, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is atop planview of myw'asher in position to be applied toa bolt, the bolt being shown in cross-section. Fig. 4 is a crosssection of a railroad-rail joint, showing my washer ap`plied,the section of thewasher being 1on the line y y of Fig. 1.' Fig. 5 is a sectional side elevation takeny on the line z z, Fig. 4.. Fig. 6 is atop planview of another form of my washer, and Fig. 7 .a perspective view of the lever member of the washer detached.

In practicing my invention I take plates of iron or steel-'say one-eighth of an inch thick,

or about the width of two threads ofthe screw- -bolt on which they are to be used--and cut` therefrom pieces of about the sizes and shapes of the nuts for which they are to be used. These piecesI designate washers af, and I 50.1nake in such washers a hole, b, larger than sufficient to slip it upon a bolt. On the edge of this hole are left one or more V-shaped or edged points, spurs, or projections, c, extending into thehole only sufficiently to permit the passage of the b oltv between them and theop- 5 5 p osite edge of the hole. v Opposite these point-s in the washer is arranged a tongue or lever member, d, which, in the form shown in Figs. 1, 3,4 4, and 5, is cut from the washer alongits` longitudinal edges, and hence integral there- 6o with, but which, as shown in Figs. 6 and 7,

lmay be a knuckle-j ointed device pivoted in a recess or slot in the washer. rIhe end of this lever member extending into the hole bis preferably edged, toothed, orpointed, as shown. l65, This lever projects into the hole b; but in the case of the integral tongue it is bent up, so as tojbring its point in the circle ofthe hole, and

in the case of the knuckle-joint it isl easily raised into that position. The spurs c andle- 7o ver member d are preferably arranged in diagonal corners ofthe washer, for strength.

In using my washer thus constructed the nut is applied to the bolt and screwed up into position. rIhe washer a is then applied to the `bolt outside or on top the nut, and when as close to the nut as it canbebrought, forceas a blow with ahammer-eis applied to the tongue or lever member d until it is straightened out into or nearly into the plane of the washer,and, using the bolt as a fulcrum,thewasher is driven back longitudinally of the lever member, and the teeth or spurs c thereby drawn into one or more threads of the bolt, and the teeth, point, or spurs of the lever member likewise drivenv into the threads of the bolt, thus vsecurely attaching the washer to said bolt, and thereby looking the nut to the bolt.` The washer may be detached by prying out the lever member. I prefer to bevel the spurs c and also the lever member spurs afterthe manner indicated in Fig. 2, as thereby the said spurs get abetter hold on the threads and are less liable to move. The form of spurs I prefer are V-shaped,with a conical vertical space between them and inclined outer surfaces, the base of the conical space being inverted. Spurs so shaped will enter the threads of the bolt in such amanner as to preclude, so far as'my present experience shows, the accidental movement of the washer. roo

If the washers are to be applied to bolts of .spurs are hard, and vice versa, as better results follow.

I have thus brought within a single simple device all the members, movable and fixed, of a very eiiicient, cheap, and quieklyapplicd nut-lock. If the washer be removed with care, it can be repeatedly reused, and such removal Can be effected most readily by lifting the washer by that end eontainingthelever member.

W'llat I claim is* 1. Anut-loekingwasherprovidedwithabo1thole having a spur or spurs extending therein, and alever inembermovable to draw said spurs into the threads ofthe bolt tcloek thewasher, substantially as shown and described.

2. The kcombination,with theplate n, ofbeveled spurs c, projecting into its bolt-hole, and

means, substantial ly as described, to draw sai d spurs into engagement with the bolt to which it is applied to loel; the nut, as set forth.

3. The eombinatiomwith theplate h, having a bolt-hole, b, and spurs c, projecting into said bolt-hole, of the tongue or lever member cl, struck np from said plate opposite said spurs, substantially as and for the purpose described.

i. rllhe co1nbinatio11,\vith theplate a, having a .bolt-hole, b, oi' spurs c, projecting into the said hole, and the tongue or lever member d, the said spurs and lever member being arranged in the line of diagonal corners of the plate, substantially as shown and described.

In testimony whcreoflhavehereunto set my hand this 25th day of June, A. il). 1883.

CHARLES VAN DUSEN. Witnesses:

\V. l-l'. Bnminrin, .TNo. l. lfAlLIcNlcn, Jr. 

